Grain door



June 9, 1925.

.J. L. NEILSON GRAIN DOOR Filed Sept. 25, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Invasion J L Neilson III Patented June 9, 1925 M ro ST -as PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES LITTLE NEILSON,-' OE.WINNIPEG, MANITOBA, CANADA,

GRAIN noon.

Application filed September 25, 1923. Serial No. 884,?2'7.

grain doors and an objectof the invention is to provide a strong'.'and durable door which will effectively hold thepressure of the grain in the car and which is-comp'aratively light so that the same can be readily manipulated when opening and closing or stacking.

A further object is to construct a grain tight door which can be readily placed in the car and locked in the closed position and which is arranged such that the attendant can easily and quickly unlock'the same to free the door to open underthe pressure of the grain.

A still further object is toprovide a door which can be adjusted in widthrto accom1no date the varying widths ofl d oorw'ay open.- ings and which is attached to the door posts in a manner such that it can be raised towardsthe roof of the car or'canbe swung inwardly and stacked against th'e'inn'erivall of the car when not in us'e.

A further object is to construct a grain door from sections which converge inwardly ofjthe car and have their outerends butte'd against the posts and their meeting ends'jdetachably fastened together, whereby the door is in the form of a truss and the outward pressure of the grain is transmitted through the truss so formed to the posts, such latter construction also providing ample foot room on the door sill for the attendant;

Wit h the abovemore important objects in'view theinvention consists essentially in the arrangement and constructionfofparts hereinafter more particularly described and later pointed out in .the appended claims, reference being had' 'toj the accompanying drawings in'which:

Fig. l is an exterior view of a car equippedwith my door."

Fig.2 is jan interior view of the parts appearing in Fig. 1;

' Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional'view at 3.-3" Fig.1,

detailed horizontal Fig. i is an enlarged detailed vertical sectional view at 4-4 Fig. 1'.

Fig. 5-is an enlarged detailed horizontal sectionalview through one side of thedoor and the adjoining post.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged detailed horizontal sectional view through the central part of the door, the section being taken in the same plane as at 3-3 Fig. 1.

Fig. 7 .is an enlarged detailed horizontal sectional viewthrough a portion of the door and the adjoining post.

Fig. 8 is a vertical sectional view at 88 Fig. 6.

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of one of the straps and parts adjoining the same asv they appear on the door.

Fig. 10 is a sectional view at 1010 Fig.

In thedrawings like characters of. reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

The grain car 1 presents the customary door posts 2 and 3,.door'sill 4 and lintel 5, the latter parts bounding the doorway open The grain door which I provide comprises two, similar right and left'sections' 7 and 8, the sections being shown in the present instance as formed from metallic plates, preferablysheet steel. The inner ends'of the plates are bent at an obtuse anglev to provide end wings 9 and 10 ,which are positioned one'in front of'the other when the door is'closed. The free edges of the wings are turned ba'ckwardly on themselves, as indicatedat 11 and 12, for strengthening purposes, and. to each section I permanently fasten, as by riveting, vertically disposed straps or bars 13 and let which are adapted to engage withthe'turned edges 11 and 12 of the wings.

The doorway openings of grain cars vary in width and on this account I have fitted my door with similar right and left extension plates 15 andpl6 which are of the full heighth of the sections and are adjustably secured to the outerends of the sections by adjusting bolts 17" carried by the sections and operating in suitable horizontally disposed slots 18 formed in the extensions. The edges of the extension plates are turned backwardly on themselves, as indicated at 19 a11d 20, to strengthen the edges thereof and the outer ed es of the extension plates enter ends or are adapted to engage with the edges of metallic plates 21 and 22 fastened to vertical strips 23 and 2+1 secured to the door posts.

It will be here observed that the strips and 241- are somewhat narrower than the posts so that they provide in each instance two right angled corners 25 and 26 extending upwardly at the inner side of each post.

To the outer end of each extension I secure a pair of hinges 27 and 28, each hinge having a leaf 29 riveted to the extension and a leaf 30 shaped to span the upright strip and plate secured to the adjacent post. The edge of the ertension is cut away in each instance to per it the leaf 80 to pass through (see Fig. 7) and the hinge joint in each 'istance butts into the corners 25 when the door is in closed position. In this way the f the door sections are butted against the inner edges of the vertical strips and plates.

The free ends of the leaves 30 of the hinges are hooked, as indicated at 31, to catch around a vertically disposed guide rod 32 associated with each post and located in the corners 2G aforesaid. The rods are carried in upper and lower sockets and 34 secured to the floor and roof of the car and provision is made so that the rods can be removed if desired.

From the above arrangement it will be obvious that the rods will serve to vertically guide the door sections if they be lifted and that the hooks 31, co-acting with the rods, will serve to form pivots around which the door sections can be swung to pass them to a stored position against the inner walls of the car. It will be noted also that should the door sections be turned to such stored position they can be removed, as the hooks will then withdraw inwardly from the rods. Adjustable collars 35 are mounted on the rods directly beneath the lower hinges and can be adjusted to permit the door sections to swing clear of the car floor. These collars are not necessary, but can be utilized if provision is made for preventing leakage of grain between the lower edges of the sections and the floor. In the )resent instance I have shown the collars as used and have provided the lower edge of each door section with a flexible canvas strip 86 which is fastened to the door section by a metallic bar 3? crossing one edge of the strip and suitably riveted to the door section.

The inner lapped ends 9 and 10 of the door sections are provided with means for releasably locking them together when the door isin the closed position. Such is now described in detail: I

To the inner wing 9 I permanently fasten similar upper and lower vertically aligned eyes 38, the eyes extending through horisontal slots 39 provided in the wings 10.

Upper and lower vertically aligned straps 40 and ll are secured permanently to the wing 10 and these straps receive slidably the upper and lower ends of locking bolts as and 43, the bolts being adapted also to be extended through the eyes and in so doing lock the wings of the sections together. The inner ends of the locking bolts are pivotally con-- nected to a disc l pivotally attached to the outer wing 10 and the disc is supplied with an extending handle l5 whereby the same can be manipulated. Obviously,-when the handle is raised the locking bolts will be withdrawn from the eyes and accordingly the eyes will be released to escape through the slots 39. The wing 10 is supplied with a wedge shaped catch 26 and the handle is adapted to operate over this catch and engage with the large end thereof to lock the handle against movement when the bolts are in the locked position.

Referring more particularly to Fig. 3, it will be seen that the door is in the form of a flattened V-shaped truss extending inwardly into the grain and arranged such that the outward pressure of the grain is taken up by the posts, which act as abutments. I wish to draw particular attention to this truss-- like arrangement and to the manner in which the door is constructed to carry the various stresses to the posts.

In this connection I may say that I am aware that double doors are used, the door sections lying in parallel planes and being detachably fastened together and having their ends resting against the door posts. In such an arrangement, however, the outward pressure of the grain is very hard on the joint as the door posts simply act as fulcrums for the door sections. According to my construction, however, the door posts act as ahutments and the outward pressure of the grain serves simply to press the outer ends of the sections more tightly into the corners 25.

When it is desired to open the door one simply pulls the handle outwardly to clear the end of the catch 6L6 and then forces the handle upwardly. This withdraws the bolts from the eyes and allows the inner edges of the door sections to swing outward- 1y through the doorway opening and permit the grain to flow freely from the car.

Whilst I have described the door as formed entirely of metal, I wish it to be understood that I do not wish to be limited to this particular material as a wood door could be made embodying the features of the invention.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. The combination with the door posts of a grain car, of a grain door formed fromv a pair of sections converging inwardly of the car and having their outer ends butted against the posts and their inner ends lap cent end of the other section and means for releasably locking the lapped ends of the sections together.

2. The combination with the door posts of a grain car, of a grain door formed from a pair of sections converging inwardly of the car and having their outer ends butted against the posts and their inner ends lapping, a vertical strip secured to the inner end of each section and abutting the adjacent end of the other section, eyes carried by the inner lapped end and projecting through suitable slots provided in the lapping end of the other section, locking bolts carried by the latter section and engageable with the eyes to lock the sections together, and lever cont-rolled means for simultaneously shifting the bolts,

3. The combination with the door posts of a grain car, of vertically disposed strips secured to the inner faces of the post-s, said strips having their edges set back from the edges of the posts, a grain door formed from two similar sections converging inwardly of the car and having their outer ends engaging the posts and butted against the strips and their inner ends lapping, means releasably locking the lapped ends of the sections together, vertically disposed stationary uide rods located to the outer sides of the strips and hinges attached to the outer ends of the door sections, said hinges each embodying a wing permanently fastened to the section and a wing straddling the adjacent strip and provided with a hooked extremity slidably caught and pivotallymounted on the adjacent guide rod.

4. In a door structure, the combination with a pair of door posts, of the pair of strips secured to the outer surface of the posts and made of less Width than the latter so that the sides of each strip are spaced inwardly from the corresponding sides of its respective post to provide vertically extending shoulders, a pair of door sections arranged in truss formation with the outer vertical edges of the door sections engaging the inner sides of said strips, the inner edges of said door sections being bent at an acute angle to the body portions of the sections and disposed in overlapping engagement, means for locking said overlapping portions together, a guide rod mounted to extend vertically adjacent the outer side of each strip and a plurality of hinges carried by the outer edge portion of each door section, each hinge having one leaf rigidly fastened to the door section and the other leaf shaped to embrace the outer and side surfaces of the adjacent strip, the free extremity of said leaf being hooked about the guide rod at the outer side of the strip so as to be capable of swinging and sliding movement on said rod.

Signed at lVinnipeg, this 3rd day of September 1923.

JAMES LITTLE NEILSON. In the presence of:

GERALD S. ROXBURGH, W. C. Boeenss. 

